Dueling rallies in Washington — tea partiers, MLK marchers

Buses loaded with hundreds of South Carolinians will be on the road to Washington, D.C., this weekend to participate in dueling marches — one expected to be mostly white, one expected to be mostly African-American.

Buses loaded with hundreds of South Carolinians will be on the road to Washington, D.C., this weekend to participate in dueling marches -- one expected to be mostly white, one expected to be mostly African-American.

On Saturday, the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, Tea Party groups from across the nation will rally at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

It’s where King’s vision for America rang out 47 years ago before reverberating through history.

That Fox News Channel talk show host Glenn Beck would invite party groups to rally on this day — at that location — has traditional civil rights groups upset. Tea Party-affiliated groups have been accused of allowing racist images and racist behavior at past rallies.

A separate rally commemorating King’s speech has been planned.

"No one day was more important than that day 47 years ago, when the world stood still and heard the dream eloquently spoken by Dr. King,” reads a flier issued by the Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network, host of the counter-rally.

But that anniversary date shouldn’t make the Lincoln Memorial off-limits, said Terry Olson, Columbia Tea Party chairman.

“I can understand where they are coming from, but get over it,” Olson said. “I don’t think (the anniversary date of King’s speech) should be an issue.”